Dogs Needing Homes After Hurricane Michael Arrive To Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — The damage left behind by Hurricane Michael was some of the worst we’ve seen.

It wasn’t just homes and businesses destroyed. Animal shelters took a hit too.

A truck carrying 88 dogs from shelters in Alabama rolled into the Animal Humane Society in Golden Valley Tuesday afternoon. Managers there say they got a request for help from one of their partner shelters in Dothan, Alabama.

WCCO’s Angela Davis shows us some of the pets, looking for a home.

Just imagine how you’d feel after a 1,200-mile road trip. Before arriving in Minnesota, these dogs were waiting for adoption in Alabama. They were living in shelters, but the destructive wind and rain from Hurricane Michael made those buildings uninhabitable.

“These guys were already looking for new homes so in order to help them best, we figured we’d take these guys who are ready and help the communities there,” Danielle Cunnane with the Animal Humane Society said. “This transport just brought in, like I said, yorkies, chihuahuas, we have lab mixes, hound mixes. You are going to find you are looking for.”

“They go right to our pet services team, where we make sure nobody has any coughing and if they do, we start them on the appropriate medication. They get vaccinations right away, and then they get to just chill for the rest of the day,” Cunnane added.

If you’re wondering why Minnesota was chosen as a destination for these pets, it’s because our state has one of the highest rates of adoption when it comes to dogs and cats. About 60 percent of Minnesotans own a pet.

“I think dogs are dogs and they just want to be with people. They want homes. So if you are looking for any animal, this is the weekend to do it,” Cunnane said.